Diosdado P. Banatao (born May 23, 1946) is a Filipino entrepreneur and engineer working in the high-tech industry, credited with having developed the first 10-Mbit

Ethernet Ethernet ( ) is a family of wired computer networking technologies commonly used in local area networks (LAN), metropolitan area networks (MAN) and wide area networks (WAN). It was commercially introduced in 1980 and first standardized in 198 ...

CMOS with silicon coupler data-link control and

transceiver In radio communication, a transceiver is an electronic device which is a combination of a radio ''trans''mitter and a re''ceiver'', hence the name. It can both transmit and receive radio waves using an antenna, for communication purposes. The ...

chip, the first system logic

chipset In a computer system, a chipset is a set of electronic components on one or more integrated circuits that manages the data flow between the processor, memory and peripherals. The chipset is usually found on the motherboard of computers. Chips ...

for

IBM International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...

's PC-XT and the PC-AT, and one of the first

graphical user interface A graphical user interface, or GUI, is a form of user interface that allows user (computing), users to human–computer interaction, interact with electronic devices through Graphics, graphical icon (computing), icons and visual indicators such ...

(GUI) accelerators for

personal computer A personal computer, commonly referred to as PC or computer, is a computer designed for individual use. It is typically used for tasks such as Word processor, word processing, web browser, internet browsing, email, multimedia playback, and PC ...

s. A three-time start-up veteran, he co-founded Mostron, Chips and Technologies, and

S3 Graphics S3 Graphics, Ltd. was an American computer graphics company. The company sold the S3 Trio, Trio, S3 ViRGE, ViRGE, S3 Savage, Savage, and S3 Chrome, Chrome series of graphics processors. Struggling against competition from 3dfx Interactive, ATI T ...

Background

Banatao was born on May 23, 1946 in Iguig, Cagayan,

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. His father, Salvador Banatao, was a rice farmer. His mother, Rosita Banatao, was a housekeeper. Banatao is known for his rags to riches story. During his childhood, he walked barefoot on a dirt road just to reach Malabbac Elementary School. He pursued his secondary education at the Jesuit-run Ateneo de Tuguegarao. After high school, he pursued his Bachelor of Science in Electric Engineering from the Mapúa Institute of Technology and graduated cum laude. After college, he turned down several job offers, including one from

Meralco The Manila Electric Company, also known as Meralco (, , stylized in uppercase), is an electric power distribution company in the Philippines. It is Metro Manila's only electric power distributor and holds the power distribution franchise for 3 ...

. He joined

Philippine Airlines Philippine Airlines (PAL) is the flag carrier of the Philippines. Headquartered at the Philippine National Bank, PNB Financial Center in Pasay, the airline was founded in 1941 and is the oldest operating commercial airline in Asia. Philippine ...

as a trainee pilot, and later joined

Boeing The Boeing Company, or simply Boeing (), is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product support s ...

. At Boeing, he worked as a

design engineer A design engineer is an engineer focused on the engineering design process in any of the various engineering disciplines (including civil, mechanical, electrical, chemical, textiles, aerospace, nuclear, manufacturing, systems, and struct ...

for the company's new commercial

airliner An airliner is a type of airplane for transporting passengers and air cargo. Such aircraft are most often operated by airlines. The modern and most common variant of the airliner is a long, tube shaped, and jet powered aircraft. The largest ...

and cargo transport aircraft,

Boeing 747 The Boeing 747 is a long-range wide-body aircraft, wide-body airliner designed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes in the United States between 1968 and 2023. After the introduction of the Boeing 707, 707 in October 1958, Pan Am ...

, in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. With the opportunity to stay in the United States, he then took his Master of Science in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

and finished in 1972. Banatao also joined the

Homebrew Computer Club The Homebrew Computer Club was an early computer hobbyist group in Menlo Park, California, which met from March 1975 to December 1986. The club had an influential role in the development of the microcomputer revolution and the rise of that aspec ...

, where he met

Steve Jobs Steven Paul Jobs (February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011) was an American businessman, inventor, and investor best known for co-founding the technology company Apple Inc. Jobs was also the founder of NeXT and chairman and majority shareholder o ...

and

Steve Wozniak Stephen Gary Wozniak (; born August 11, 1950), also known by his nickname Woz, is an American technology entrepreneur, electrical engineer, computer programmer, philanthropist, and inventor. In 1976, he co-founded Apple Inc., Apple Computer with ...

. After finishing his master's degree, Banatao worked with different technology companies such as the

National Semiconductor National Semiconductor Corporation was an United States of America, American Semiconductor manufacturing, semiconductor manufacturer, which specialized in analogue electronics, analog devices and subsystems, formerly headquartered in Santa Clara, ...

, Intersil, and

Commodore International Commodore International Corporation was a home computer and electronics manufacturer with its head office in The Bahamas and its executive office in the United States founded in 1976 by Jack Tramiel and Irving Gould. It was the successor compan ...

where he designed the first single chip, 16-bit microprocessor-based calculator. In 1981, he developed the first 10-Mbit

CMOS with silicon coupler data-link control and transceiver chip while working in

Seeq Technology Seeq may refer to: * Seeq Technology, a semiconductor company founded in 1981 and sold to LSI Corporation in 1999 * SEEQ Card, an electronic smartcard ticketing system used on the Translink (Queensland) network * A race in the fictional universe ...

. He was also credited for the first system logic chip set for IBM's PC-XT and the PC-AT; the local bus concept and one of the first the first GUI accelerator chips for

personal computers A personal computer, commonly referred to as PC or computer, is a computer designed for individual use. It is typically used for tasks such as Word processor, word processing, web browser, internet browsing, email, multimedia playback, and PC ...

Career

Business

In 1984, Banatao and his business partner Francis Siu, founded a high-technology company, Moston, starting with a capital of half a million US dollars. Mostron was launched as a manufacturer of motherboards. They also hired Ron Yara of

Intel Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, and Delaware General Corporation Law, incorporated in Delaware. Intel designs, manufactures, and sells computer compo ...

as a company executive. After he developed a five-chip set, he co-founded Chips and Technologies in 1985. The company developed system logic chip set for

's PC-XT and the PC-AT. The company earned $12 million in its first four months. After 22 months, the company went public. In 1989, Banatao launched his third start-up company,

, with Yara in Santa Clara,

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. S3 focused on enhancing the graphic capabilities in personal computers by using a graphic accelerator chip. The key to this was Banatao's invention of a local bus. The company had an initial public offering of $30 million. In 1996, the company became the leader of the graphic-chips market, beating a strong competitor, Cirrus Logic, Inc. In the same year, Chips & Technologies was sold to

for about $300 million. In 2000, he decided to start his own venture capital firm named ''Tallwood Venture Capital'' with a capital of US$300 million, all of which came from his own pocket. He later sold another company for more than $1 billion, where it had less than 20 employees. Dado was also part of SiRF, where it started the consumerization of GPS after it had been declassified by the US Government. In 2010, Banatao became

Ikanos Communications Ikanos Communications, Incorporated, was a provider of semiconductor and software products for use in homes. It was headquartered in Fremont, California. The company’s digital subscriber line, communications processors and other products were ...

' CEO after Michael Gulett resigned as the company's CEO and President.

Philanthropy

In the Philippines, Banatao through his Dado Banatao Educational Foundation,Diosdado Banatao Inventions, Companies, and Foundation
/ref> annually awards five educational scholarships to intelligent Filipino students who have bright futures in the field of

engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

and

technology Technology is the application of Conceptual model, conceptual knowledge to achieve practical goals, especially in a reproducible way. The word ''technology'' can also mean the products resulting from such efforts, including both tangible too ...

. Also, with Philippine Development Foundation which he chairs, he is helping send brilliant young Filipinos to school to help them reach their full potential. PhilDev was spun off from Ayala Foundation's program. Through his Banatao Filipino American Fund, he assists Californian high school students of Filipino heritage who are pursuing a college education in engineering. He also built a computer center at his grade school in his childhood town of Iguig in Cagayan Valley, making it the only public school with the most modern computer network in the Philippines.

Recognition

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Banatao, Dado 1946 births 20th-century Filipino businesspeople 21st-century Filipino businesspeople Filipino emigrants to the United States Filipino inventors Living people Mapúa University alumni People from Cagayan Stanford University School of Engineering alumni